Zale massaged his face to look as natural as possible, then handed the cup of berry juice to Silas to pour over the meat meant for the sub-beasts, and continued sitting and skewering meat as if nothing had happened.
He also hadn't expected that the person Sane liked was Kaelen, but then felt it was a matter of course. A sub-beast who could become best friends with Zale's future mate surely had to have some outstanding qualities.
Zale's actions naturally could not escape Sane's eyes; Sane had known from the moment Zale stepped into the cave entrance. However, Sane understood Zale very well; Zale would not speak nonsense, even to Zale's own mate.
As for Kaelen, he did not know his and Sane's flirtatious actions had been seen by a third person; he only focused intently on the food on the stove.
The stir-fried meat had turned slightly golden. He extinguished the fire in the stove, then added a type of dark green wild fruit with a mild sour taste, letting Sane stir for another minute or two so the fruit juice could soak into the meat. He sprinkled a bit of Sima powder, then immediately scooped the meat into a large wooden bowl, using a lid to cover it to prevent dust.
The stew broth had also been boiling for quite a while. Kaelen opened the lid, skimmed the foam floating on the surface, then added the purple yams and wild vegetables, cooking until the water boiled again before putting out the stove fire.
Using a wooden chopstick to poke the chicken in the bone pot and seeing that no more red juices flowed out, he intended to scoop it onto a wooden tray to cool down before preparing to shred the meat. Sane wrapped his arms from behind Kaelen, grasping both Kaelen's hand and the chopstick, helping Kaelen scoop the meat out. Kaelen's entire body fit snugly in Sane's embrace, and Kaelen's buttocks were poked by something hard.
Dammit, in broad daylight, in a crowded place, this stinking snake still dared to go into heat!
This time Kaelen couldn't stand it anymore. He used all his might to stomp repeatedly on Sane's foot, while his hand grabbed the bone knife on the kitchen shelf and raised it, glaring at Sane; the intention to mince snake meat was clearly visible on his face. Sane clicked his tongue full of regret, shrugged, and leisurely transformed into beast form, slithering out through a large hole in the innermost corner of the cave.
Sane was only engrossed in thinking of a way to go resolve his personal problem, not knowing that from the moment Sane transformed into his beast form, Kaelen's usually normal complexion suddenly turned so pale green that even the yellow camouflage layer on Kaelen's face couldn't cover it. His whole body became as stiff as a stone statue, and the color of his lips also turned ashen.
The large snake had slithered outside for a while, and a sharp pain in the lower abdomen pulled Kaelen's soul back. He hurriedly placed a hand on his stomach, secretly comforting himself inwardly: [It's okay, don't be afraid, that's just a green caterpillar that ate weight-gaining feed, not a snake. It's a caterpillar, a caterpillar, a caterpillar!]
Taking a few deep breaths, the violently beating heart returned to normal, and the pain in his lower abdomen also gradually subsided. Only then did Kaelen relax his body, leaning against the kitchen counter. Being like this was really not good. Later when he gave birth, if a sub-beast or a leopard cub hatched, it would be fine, but if a snake hatched, would he be scared to death by his own child?
He needed to figure out a way to overcome this fear.
"Kaelen, the meat skewers are done, what do we need to do now?"
Elian's voice called from outside. Kaelen exhaled a stifled breath from his chest, adjusted his expression, and stepped out. He guided the beastmen to rest the meat skewers on the short rectangular rack, using the red-hot charcoal to grill them, then told the sub-beasts to wash their hands of raw meat and come inside to shred the chicken.
The sub-beasts washed their hands with bubble grass, and Sorin couldn't help but ask:
"Kaelen, why is your complexion so poor? You were fine just a moment ago?"
Seven pairs of eyes simultaneously stared at him. Kaelen offered a wry smile and signaled: [I'm so hungry that I feel a bit uncomfortable; drinking some fruit juice will make it normal again. Hurry up so we can eat, I'm really very hungry.]
Kaelen wasn't using this sentence to cover up; he was genuinely very hungry.
The sub-beasts sped up their hand-washing and hurried into the house. Elian looked around, didn't see Sane, and asked doubtfully:
"Huh, where is Sane?"
Kaelen had already prepared an answer: [He suddenly remembered an urgent matter, transformed into his beast form, and went out through the window.]
The group of sub-beasts was speechless; they had never seen a beastman as arbitrary as this guy. However, they found it inconvenient to discuss the beastman's matters, so they only focused on shredding the chicken and making the salad according to Kaelen's instructions.
With incomplete ingredients, Kaelen only instructed them to make a simple shredded chicken salad with the available items. The chicken was shredded into thin strips, then they added shiitake mushrooms stir-fried with dry onions, sweet and sour fruit sauce, and fragrant leaves, mixing it all well. These fragrant leaves grew by the river and smelled like dried Vietnamese coriander; adding them to the dish created a distinct flavor.
Cael couldn't resist pinching a piece of the chicken salad and popping it into his mouth, instantly captivated by this sweet and sour dish.
"This dish tastes so unique, taking one bite makes you want to take a second."
The other three sub-beasts also tried a piece themselves. Sorin and Elian nodded, agreeing with Cael's remark, while Kaelen didn't like it that much. Missing too many seasonings, this shredded chicken salad was only a tenth as good as the shredded chicken he ate in his previous life.
"Everyone, the meat is cooked, can we start eating now?"
The beastmen outside called in. Kaelen immediately told the sub-beasts to go to the kitchen to arrange the food trays, while he went outside and told the beastmen to lay leaves around the grilling area. The whole cuts of meat were seventy percent cooked and didn't need a large fire anymore. The meat skewers only needed red-hot charcoal, so sitting around the grill rack to eat and grill at the same time now wouldn't pose a risk of getting burned.
Kaelen mixed the sour fruit juice and berry juice into a large wooden bucket, then added boiled water that had been left to cool; whoever wanted to drink could use a cup to scoop out however much they wanted. It was a pity there was no ice, otherwise, it would have been even more perfect.
Just as the seating was arranged, Sane returned bringing a body full of moisture, his arms carrying a pile of wooden bowls and wooden spoons, along with several medium-sized wooden basins.
The beastmen stared wide-eyed. When did this guy go out, why hadn't they seen him? They thought he was still in the kitchen.
"There weren't enough bowls in the house, so I went to make some new ones. Used beast form, climbed out through the window."
"Oh." Everyone nodded together, only Zale secretly rolled his eyes in his heart.
*Hmph, don't think I didn't see that lustful look of yours. You definitely teased the sub-beast, set yourself on fire, and then slipped out to resolve it, didn't you? As if I don't know you; I'm exactly the same.*
Sane ignored Zale's heavily implied gaze, swaggering over to place the pile of items on the wooden table. Kaelen only glanced at Sane once before inspecting the pile of wooden bowls Sane had just brought back. This beastman's craftsmanship was not bad; the bowls were made quite sturdily, the surfaces were polished smooth, and they had also been washed clean.
Keeping ten bowls along with enough spoons for the number of people, and putting away all the extra bowls, the group began the first outdoor BBQ party on the beastman continent.
"This is too delicious! I never expected there would be this kind of eating style aside from roasting and stewing!"
Cael scooped a piece of stir-fried meat into his mouth, marveling incessantly. The rich flavor of the meat almost exploded in Cael's mouth. Elian and Sorin, on the other hand, particularly liked the chewy, crunchy grilled meat skewers, each holding a skewer and biting into it. The beastmen basically didn't say a word because their heads were already buried in the pile of food.
A mouthful of meat, a mouthful of soup, finishing one meat skewer after another, until the fire died down, the whole group was so stuffed they couldn't budge even a little bit. On the grass, a few consecutive "burps" suddenly sounded out; even Sorin, who was normally as fierce as a beastman, couldn't suppress his embarrassment, covering his mouth to let out a "burp."
They were truly about to die from being too full.
"Kaelen, this purple soup is so good... Burp... I'm dying of fullness." Cael tossed his sub-beast shyness beyond the clouds, sprawling out on the grass to let Zale help rub his belly. Zale also didn't mind his own sub-beast; his eyes were full of utmost pampering.
The whole group had their teeth set on edge by this couple. Ignoring rules and decorum, they leaned back and sprawled on the grass behind them, chatting and laughing cheerfully. It wasn't until the stars in the sky grew brighter and brighter that they crawled up to clean the yard for Kaelen, then bid him farewell to return to their homes.
On the way back, the group reminisced about the divine flavors they had just enjoyed. Hayman rubbed his belly and sighed with emotion:
"If I eat like this every day, I will definitely turn into a round snake. But I really couldn't control it, just eating piece after piece. Tell me, you guys, if Kaelen and I mated, wouldn't I get to eat such delicious food every day?"
After saying this, the back of his neck suddenly felt cold, and Hayman couldn't help but shiver. Valerius, standing next to him, let out a disdainful "hiss":
"Keep dreaming. Let alone anything else, your beast form alone wouldn't pass the first round. Kaelen is most afraid of snakes!"
Sane, who was staring intently at the back of Hayman's neck, suddenly stiffened slightly upon hearing these words. Zale discreetly glanced at Sane, then turned to ask Cael: "Really?"
Cael scratched his head: "I don't know either. Elian, do you know?" Elian also shook his head. When their group hung out together, they had never encountered a snake before, so he didn't know if it was true that Kaelen was afraid of snakes.
Valerius smugly raised his head high: "You guys really don't pay attention to him at all. I saw it with my own eyes. That time I ran into Kaelen washing animal skins by the river, he was so terrified by a water snake slithering onto the bank to sunbathe that he went stiff, sitting as still as a wooden statue. If it hadn't been for me coincidentally passing by and startling the snake so it slithered away, I'm sure he would have sat there pretending to be a stone statue until evening."
"Oh, so that's how it is." Sorin nodded, then thought of something and abruptly turned to ask Sane: "Earlier this evening, you transformed into your beast form right in front of his eyes, didn't you? No wonder Kaelen's complexion was so terrible at that moment; he looked like he was about to faint."
The whole group turned to look at Sane with deep reproach, and in his heart, Sane was already taking a knife and hacking himself into minced meat. Recalling the first time they were entangled with each other in the cave, when Sane went berserk and transformed into his beast form, hadn't Kaelen also frozen stiff on the spot then?
At that time, Sane had thought Kaelen wanted to take the opportunity to cling to him, which was why Kaelen didn't run. He hadn't expected that it wasn't that Kaelen didn't want to run, but that he was so terrified he went stiff and couldn't run!